From the desk of Catherine, South Coast Enviro-Experiences Project Officer  

Nesting season roster completed! Safety vests collected! Group photo taken!  Now Team Albany Turtle Trackers are ready to take part in their mission to SAVE OUR SNAKE-NECKED TURTLES!  

The recent Save Our Snake-Necked Turtle (SOSNT) tracker information session has proven very successful with a total of 29 volunteers registered to be Turtle Trackers here in Albany. The Albany Golf Club at Lake Seppings provided the perfect location for the Turtle Tracker workshop, with the golf course being the main area for the Turtle Trackers to do their turtle nest observations between 1st October – 11th November this year. 

The SOSNT project manager, Anthony Santoro, provided the Turtle Trackers with information on safety procedures, how to use the equipment provided to protect observed nests and how to record turtle and nest observations using the TurtleSAT app to record their observation data during the 6-week tracking period. 

Did you know that turtles spend most of their time in the water? That’s why the Turtle Tracker volunteers will be closely watching for the females making their journey out of the water and be discreetly following them to their chosen nesting sites. Another role for the Turtle Trackers will be to protect the nests by warding off avian predators such as magpie larks, ravens and willy wagtails. Once the turtles have made their nests, the Turtle Trackers can make sure that the female turtles make it back to the water safely. 

It’s not too late to register to be a Turtle Tracker!  Simply sign up to the South Coast Enviro-Experiences volunteer platform to find out more about this amazing project and to access many more enviro opportunities to connect with your beautiful South Coast community.

The South Coast Enviro-Experiences project is supported by Lotterywest.